Notes from the coaches during Thursday's sessions at Big Ten media day:

PENN STATE

Coach Joe Paterno didn't have much to say about his team, which begins preseason camp Aug. 4. He did say that he has "no timeline" for choosing a starting quarterback between Rob Bolden and Matt McGloin. "It will take care of itself," Paterno said.

Regarding Nebraska's entrance into the Big Ten, Paterno said he initially preferred an Eastern team (Pitt, Rutgers or Syracuse) but now considers Nebraska "a real coup."

"It's going to make the league tougher," Paterno said.

NEBRASKA

Coach Bo Pelini's team enters the Big Ten among the favorites to win the Legends Division and play in the inaugural Big Ten championship game. Pelini said the Cornhuskers won't remodel anything to make that happen.

"We're going to do what we do and we're going to do it well," he said. "We're not really going to adapt what we do to the conference. We're going to hopefully make the conference adapt to what we do."

NORTHWESTERN

Coach Pat Fitzgerald said quarterback Dan Persa (Liberty High) is "100 percent" following surgery last November to repair an Achilles tendon tear. Fitzgerald said he has high expectations for Persa, who was first-team all-Big Ten last year.

"To me, it’s scary how good he could be,” Fitzgerald said, according to the Chicago Tribune. “His athletic gifts and talents, that’s easy to see. But to see that mental progression from a quarterback … the game slows down, and you are able to anticipate things before they unfold."

MICHIGAN

Coach Brady Hoke introduced himself by noting that he coaches for Michigan in at least a half-dozen forms.

"This may sound arrogant, and if it is, it is," he added. "We're Michigan."

MICHIGAN STATE

Coach Mark Dantonio was an assistant coach for Jim Tressel at both Youngstown State and Ohio State. On Thursday, Dantonio called his former boss and mentor a "tragic hero."

"Every person he's come in contact with as a player and a coach, he's made a positive impact on their lives," Dantonio said. "To me, it's tragic. He becomes a tragic hero in my respect, in my view. Usually tragic heroes have the ability to rise above it all in the end, and that's what I'll look for in the end."

OHIO STATE

First-year coach Luke Fickell said four quarterbacks are vying to replace Terrelle Pryor, including 25-year-old Joe Bauserman and 18-year-old freshman Braxton Miller. Most eyes are on the latter.

"He has a lot of similar qualities [to Pryor] in what he can do as a football player," Fickell said of Miller. "We're excited. Obviously we had him through the spring practice, but we're excited to see how he can continue to grow and how he can put our football team in the best position to win."

WISCONSIN

Coach Bret Bielema didn't mince words when asked how he would cure college football.

"If I had a dream world, I would say hammer the guys that don't do things right," he said. "To me in my profession, the only thing I get very frustrated about is when I know things go on that aren't right, mainly in recruiting. That's the biggest thing that comes across my desk. People are willingly and knowingly abusing rules and breaking things. To me, when you are consciously aware of abusing a rule, there's no excuse for that.

"If you're trying to be competitive, you're trying to win a football game, all those things, maximize all your opportunities, do what you have to do. But when you consciously break an NCAA rule, to me the only way to deter that is to get rid of people, or seriously hold programs accountable. That's probably the number one thing I would love to see happen in the world of college football."